The National tribune., 1887-12-08
NATIONAL

they willy planned that If the income tax
was possibly enacted, that all the blame for
the trouble that would follow would be laid
at the door of the disabled veterans, their
widows and orphans, who were in receipt of
the money that would accrue from the tax.
Mr. Morrison was retired from Congress
by the indignant veterans, who were not de-
ceived by his demagogery; but there are
Others, in and outside of Congress, who are
working on the same plan. If they can
succeed in cutting down the receipts OF the
Treasury TO the lowest amount now required
TO run the Government, they will have to de-
stroy many Of the present sources Of income.
Then, when any additional pension legisla-
ton is enacted, additional taxes will have to
be laid TO meet it, and the pensioners will be
placed before the country in the attitude of
robbing certain class Of people in order to
gain support for themselves. Then, also,
it is n very different thing to re-impose q
tax than TO continue one that Is already
on. The business Of the country is at pres
ent carefully adjusted TO all the whole
scheme Of taxation.
ANY change will be an embarrassment toall
engaged in it. To lower it or take it off en-
tirely viii be to derange the whole fabric of
the business and those branches related TO
it. Toput it back on after it has been taken
of would be to bring about still worse en-
barrassments, losses and annoyances. Let
us take as an illustration the duty on wooden
manufactures, Of which so much is said by
certain sections Of the revenue thinkers. We
Will not say whether in our opinion the
tariff is too high or too low. But one fact
is undeniable: the value Of hundreds OF
millions of dollars worth of property is care
fully adjusted according TO the present duty,
and any change means arrangement of the
entire fabric. The value Of every sheep in
the country, of every acre Of grazing land
upon which il pastures Of every pound OF
wool in every warehouse or factory, Of every
yard Of wooden cloth in the hands Of manu-
facturers, jobbers and retailers, of every
stock Of goods on the shelves of country mer-
chants, of every debt due on account Of those
goods, Of every wooden mill and cloth loom
would be instantly affected by any change
in the duties The farmer who has stocked
his acres with a few score Of sheep, the wool
buyer who has gathered up the fieeces Of the
neighborhood, the retail drygoods merchant
who has invested his capital in q stock Of
wooden goods, the jObber whose warehouses
are full Of such wares, the manufacturer who
has put his money into expensive machinery
and buildings, have all made their calcula-
tons. Willingly OF unwittingly, upon the
basis Of the present duty. To change il
means disturbance and losses TO nearly al
Of them and bankruptcy TO large portion
To seriously threaten a change would be tc
paralyze the business. The wool buyer will
not buy Of the farmer, the retailer viii no;
buy Of the jObber, nor the jobber Of the
manufacturer, until they all see what j;
going TO be done. Meanwhile they all stand
still and dread a shrinkage of the money
they have already invested. But suppose
the tax is once taken of and the business O
the country adjusts itself to it, what tasl
it will be to get restorationl
What is true Of wool is equally true o
every other important article on the dutia
BILE list. To abolish or radically change any
Of the duties means loss of millions o
J dollars to those engaged in the business il
. the stagnation that must ensue while thu
, matter is being discussed, and in the inevi
, table arrangement which must follow
change.
Our internal revenue system cost enor
mously TO develop its present perfection
The cost was not only in the money lost Il
the Government in the years that hav
elapsed before the system conld be perfected
but in the awful corruptions that the crudi
: ties and imperfections of its first years dill
: fused among officials and people, the scan
dals, official and mercantile, the costly an
sensational judicial proceedings, and, finally
T the terrible harm done TO honorable bushes
men. Thousands Of honest and law-abidin
e manufacturers and dealers were bankrupte
E or driven out of the business in those earle
years because they could not compete wit
e the law-breakers and corruptionists VIII
rushed into it, II we abolish the systel
now we shall have to go through the whol
: of that wretched, costly and humiliatin
: experience again when we desire to rec
n tablish il, which will only be a question
: few years. 1t will be infinitely better an
), cheaper TO maintain the system as ii is, eve
e though we have TO pay every dollar collecte
O through it back to the States.
It The objections TO revenue tinkering do NJ
e end by any means with the imperative d
z mand for justice TO the veterans, or solem
" warning against LAYING mischiefmallir